Rules

It is very important that you read all the rules and regulations before joining up with this RPG. If you don't, you're likely to do something wrong, and get accused of cheating, and we can't have that now, can we? We strongly urge you to read all the rules, but if you wish to look up a particular area of interest, feel free to use the anchor links provided.
  • General Rules
  • Understanding Your Characters Statistics
  • Training Rules
  • Inventory and Items
  • Battling

General Rules
  1. Cheating is punishable by the death of the character. Cheating includes submitting more training than what you have done, or posting under someone else's username. Don't think we won't find out. The bunnies tell us everything...
  2. The game is over when one player has possession of all seven of the relics.
  3. Swearing is punishable. This is a G rated RPG, and we don't need any potty mouth ruining it.
  4. Challenges must be accepted. If you have reason not to fight, post it on the forum, and we will consider your case.
  5. Handicaps are not out of the question for those people who can't connect regularly. You handicap will be stripped from you if you train as much as everyone one else.
  6. The RPG is for the fun and entertainment of everyone. That means NO flaming another player.
  7. Remember the most important rule in all games: have fun!

Understanding Your Characters Statistics


There is much to understand about the various statistics that your character has.  Reading this section of the rules will explain these terms to you.
Each class is unique in it's abilities and where it's potentials lie. The two stats that will affect how your character performs most throughout the game, are it's M levels (magic levels) and it's W levels (weapon levels). M and W levels are a fixed value that specifies the very maximum potential that the given class can reach, as far as the types of attacks you can learn go. For example, the Knight, who has a W class of 5, and a M class of 2, will be able to learn all Weapon attacks from level 1 to level 5, and can learn all Magic attacks from Level 1 to level 2. Translated into English, this means that a knight has a wide range of weapon attacks, but a very limited ability to learn magic attacks. On the other extreme you have the Wizard, who has a level 6M, and a level 1W. This means that a wizard is capable of learning the most destructive magic attacks, but can only learn the bare minimum in weapon attacks. The main difference between magic and weapon attacks, is that magic attacks are much more difficult to learn, but do a fair amount more damage than their weapon equivalents (although this isn't always the case, and the differences between the two attacks will become more complex as the RPG progresses).
Your abilities to learn attacks are not just affected by you M and W levels. Many attacks require a minimum level of either Strength, Magic, or Dexterity. These attacks can be increased through fighting, training, or through wearing an enchanted item. As well as acting as limitations of what you are able to learn, you Magic and Strength levels also act as a bonus upon the amount of damage you inflict upon your foe. For example, if a beginner Knight were to use the W class attack 'punch' against a foe, his strength level is added upon the total damage he inflicts (Punch performs 50 damage at it's base, plus his strength number, 12. The total damage rests at 62). Strength points are added to the W class attacks, and Magic points are added to the M class attacks. If your Dexterity level is higher than your Strength or Magic levels, it can be substituted as the bonus attack points.
One of the two most important stats to keep an eye on in actual battle, is your endurance points. Endurance points are the amount of damage your character can take before he or she dies. If you or your enemies endurance points drops below zero, then that character loses the battle. For more information, see the 'fighting rules'.
As well and the need to keep a close eye upon you endurance level, you also need to pay attention to your remaining Mana levels. Every time you use an attack, or block one, you use the mystical force that every living creature has, called 'Mana'. Run out of Mana, and you lose the ability to perform the more powerful attacks. For example, if one was to attack a foe with the M attack 'Magic Gust', as well as doing 40 damage to ones foe (plus additional magic points bonus), one also must deduct 25 Mana points from ones Mana level. If you run out of Mana points, you are forced into attacking with your beginning attack, which although has little power, costs no Mana. Both Mana and endurance points are filled to their max after a battle has ended.
It is important not to get too confident, however, no matter how strong your character may be, for there is no guarantee that you will always hit your target. Players are are always at the mercy of the dice, and depending upon your accuracy level, you might need to skin a few rabbits for their lucky feet. After making an attack upon an enemy, the judge will roll two dice to determine if you successfully hit the target. Depending upon your accuracy, you are required to choose a certain amount of numbers between 2 and 12. If that total is rolled, then it counts as a miss. For example, if you were a Knight, with an accuracy of 9/12, then you are required to choose 3 numbers in which would result in your missing of the target. Please note that it's impossible to roll a 1, as there is two dice used, so the odds are more accurately '8 out of 11 chance to hit'. Accuracy cannot be increased, unless you own the relic of "Dragon's Eye".
The amount of items (see below) you can carry at one time is limited by your baggage. Each player starts with a maximum of 10 baggage points. Each item that you buy takes up space in your baggage. When you cannot fit anymore items in your baggage, you must either wear an item if you have on your body (for example, you can free up baggage by taking armor or rings out of your baggage, and wearing it on your body), or toss it away. An item tossed away cannot be retrieved. It's important to note the size of an item you buy, as it may make your baggage very heavy. For example, a full plate mail has a baggage size of three, whilst a cloak only has a baggage size of one.

Training Rules


Training is the main way to gain the raw experience needed to battle your foes in the forest. There is a limit of 2 (two) hours of training per day. Any training received over the limit will be ignored. In other words, you can't do a weeks worth of training in advance. The limit is designed for those people who can't connect every day. It prevents people from getting too powerful. The training which you do complete can be converted into five aspects. You can only train in one aspect at a time. If you train for sixty minutes, you only go up in one attribute, not all of them. Use your training time wisely, because a whopping strength/magic level usually means you didn't learn any attacks. Balance is the key.
Training is done by spending time in the forest chat room. When logging into the chat room, make sure to state the time you entered, and then state that you have officially begun training. After you have spent the time you wish to spend training, type the time you finished, and work out how many points you are entitled to. The point to time ratio is shown below.
i) Strength: 1 point every 30 minutes
ii) Magic: 1 point every 30 minutes
iii) Dexterity: 1 point every 30 minutes
iv) Gold: 10 gold pieces every 10 minutes
v) Learn attack: Time to learn an attack is respective of the required hours.

If you wish to gain points faster, then the norm, you are able to do so by 'sparring' with another person in the chat room. Sparring is the process of having mock battles with one other player (no threesomes, and sparring with 3 other people does not double the effectiveness of normal sparring). Sparring is designed to be a social event, where the players can chat and have some fun describing the violent things that you could do to each other if there were no rules. Obviously, after sparring no one dies or loses a relic. Remember, you may only spar in pairs (although two pairs are more than welcome to have 'tag-matches'. There is no extra benefit points wise, but it's funnier). When sparring, your training is affected as shown below:
i) Strength: 1 point every 15 minutes
ii) Magic: 1 point every 15 minutes
iii) Dexterity: 1 point every 15 minutes
iv) Gold: 10 gold pieces every five minutes
v) Learn Attack: Time to learn attack is respective to required hours (although when sparring half an hour is equal to one hour of normal training)

Inventory and Items

A character cannot survive in the forest with bare experience alone. A wise character will make sure to scrape and save their gold to buy a variety of items to add to their inventory. From a glance there is four main classes of items you can buy. Weapons, Armour, Potions, and Rings and Amulets.
 
Weapons can be equipped to give the character an attack bonus. If a W class weapon (like a sword) with a damage of 15 is equipped, all W class attacks receive a 15 point damage increase. If a M class weapon (like a staff) is equipped, then M class attacks receive the same bonus. Weapons can also be enchanted, and offer special abilities or other bonuses to various stats. Only one weapon may be wielded at one given time, unless an unusual circumstance permits it. Thus you cannot have both W and M bonuses at the same time. Your ability to wield weapons is also subject to your level of strength or magic (which is explained further below).
Armour is essential for a character who wishes to last longer in battle than his foe. By protecting ones self with even a simple cape (which has an armour class of W5), a character is able to reduce damage taken from W class attacks by 5%. Highly experienced characters are able to afford the most expensive armours, like heavy full plate mails made from dwarven alloys (which can have amour classes of up to W80), and are able to resists up to 80% of W class damage inflicted upon them. One needs to choose carefully the type of armour his character would wear, however, as even the best crafted full plate mail offers no resistance against magic attacks, which are best resisted by wearing cloaks with runes and crystals embedded into them. When buying an armour make sure to always keep in mind if it is a W or M type armour. Only one type of body armour can be worn at one given time, and only one helm may be worn at one given time (but it is acceptable to wear both body armour and a helm). The armour your character can wear is also restricted to the characters strength. The characters strength points must be more than the total strength required for each item. For example, if you wanted to wear a 'plate mail' and a 'helm' whilst wielding a 'broad sword', you must work out how strong you need to be. This is done by adding the required strength of each item together (plate mail is roughly 50, plus the helm which may be 25, plus the broad sword which is 30). If your character does not have 105 strength points, he is unable to bear the weight, and must remove one of the items.
Potions can spell the difference between life and death in a battle. By using a turn to drink a potion, a character is able to restore a certain amount of his or her hit points or Mana. The amount recovered depends upon the potion bought. Cheap potions will only restore the amount rolled on a dice by a judge, multiplied by ten, whilst the most expensive potions are able to completely heal and restore Mana in one go. Remember, whilst you may get lucky using cheap potions, you always get what you paid for. A character may use as many potions as he likes in battle, but the amount he can carry is limited to his baggage)
Rings and amulets are expensive, but those who can afford them will reap the benefits from them. Most rings and amulets have small enchantments placed upon them, boosting once stat higher by one or two points, but some items are enchanted with a magic older than time itself. Legends say that to wear one of these items can skyrocket your stats to never seen before levels. Buying rings and amulets is a business of chance. One must pay whatever cost the rings are for that particular week (the price changes with demand), and a random ring or amulet will be drawn out from the cache' and given to you. You may only wear one ring on each hand, and wear only one amulet.

Battling

It is unfortunate, but in times of war matters cannot always be solved with a discussion and a treaty. Matters are even graver when the war is between the forces of good and evil. Because few of the beasts in the forest and even fewer of you foes can be reasoned with, it is necessary to have the ability to both attack, and defend.

We try to keep battles simple (failing miserably), and play by a simple series of battle rules (the actual process of battling is further below). The rules are as follows:

  1. Battles are always fought until one player dies (runs out of endurance points).
  2. The person with the highest dexterity goes first in battle.
  3. Only one attack or move is permitted per round, unless either player is affected by a spell somehow.
  4. Running from battle (leaving the chat room) is punishable by a dishonorable death. We will understand if you get disconnected, but if you think that by leaving a chat room you avoid losing in battle, you are mistaken.
  5. Characters must have at least one fight a month. This keeps the game fresh and interesting. I have been a member of a similar RPG where no-one wanted to fight in fear of losing a battle. I have tried to counter this by offering benefits from battle if you win or lose (although winning would be the better option of the two). An RPG where no one fights, and only trains is a dull one.
  6. New characters are given a one month no-battling period, so that they can prepare themselves for the dangers of the forest. New characters also don't have to fight much stronger ones, unless one of the moderators say you must. If you are an old character (longer than 3 months) you must still fight stronger characters if you are challenged.
  7. Battles can only be fought if a moderator is present. The moderators job is to check the players stats, and to enforce the rules. If a battle is fought without a moderator, then it doesn't count. This will prevent confusion for everyone.
  8. Moderators are always anonymous, and remained unidentified throughout the battle. This stops someone from flaming the dice roller after an unlucky battle.
  9. Training is suspended 1 day from a battle that way both competitors know what they are up againist.

Before a battle, each player must do three things. Firstly, each player must state the items that he or she is wielding and wearing (this includes weapons, armor, rings, and amulets), and then they must state the relic they are fighting for (if any). Secondly, each player must choose the numbers that will represent his or her 'misses' in battle. The amount of numbers each player needs to choose depends upon the characters accuracy. Lastly, each player must bow, thus showing respect for the other player and showing that he or she is ready to battle.

The actual process of battling is a series of rounds where the players take turns in attacking each other. There are three steps that must be taken to complete your turn. The player with the highest dexterity goes first.
In Step One the first player (who we will call "Flash") begins the battle by either naming the attack he wishes to use, or stating that he wishes to use his turn to quaff a potion. The moderators watching the battle either calculate the damage the attack inflicts, and deduct the Mana used from Flash's total, or add points to Flash's stats, depending upon the potion he has stated that he has quaffed.
In Step Two the second player (who we will call "Mallow") has the option of dodging the attack if he has the ability. If he does, the Mana is deducted from Mallow's total by the moderators, the battle skips Step Three, and it's Mallows turn to complete Step One. If he chooses not to, the battle continues straight to Step Three.
In Step Three the moderators roll two dice. The total of these dice is announced. If one of the numbers which Flash chose appears as the total, then that attack was considered a 'miss', and no endurance points are deducted from Mallow's total. If the total is not one of the chosen numbers, then the attack is considered to be a direct hit, and the damage points the moderators calculated is deducted from Mallows total. If two ones are shown on the dice face (also known as 'Snake Eyes'), then the damage inflicted by Flash is doubled. The Mana points that both players may have spent remain spent, irrespective of weather the attack hit it's target or not.
After Step Three is complete, and the changes have been made to the totals, it is Mallows turn to complete Step One. This process continues until one of the players has run out of endurance points, and is considered to be dead.

If you win a battle, you gain three things. Most importantly, you gain your choice of one of the enemies relics, you gain 10% of the enemies stats, and you gain one thousand gold piece cash prize.

If you lose in battle, you have a mixed bag of fortune. You gain 1/20th of the enemies stats, you learn 20 hours of any attack being learnt, you must remain dead for one week (whist you are dead you are unable to train, or enter the forest chat room), and you must surrender one of your relics.

If you draw in battle, both players are revived, no experience is gained for either players, no relics are gained or lost, and players are free to train, but cannot fight for a week